Healthy Eating on Thanksgiving – or any other feast

5 Ways to Breeze Through Thanksgiving Without Worrying About Your Weight

Getting through Thanksgiving without gaining weight isn’t as challenging as you might think. And you don’t even have to miss out on what you like.
The whole reason why Thanksgiving is a challenge in the first place is because of the word “feast”. You hear the word “feast” and it’s like somehow you’re required to have 10 helpings of everything, then waddle around like a penguin the rest of the day, wishing you looked good in a bikini.
But what if Thanksgiving wasn’t labeled as a “feast”? Your focus would shift towards gathering with your loved ones and enjoying a nice meal together, instead of feeling like you have your ticket to binge like a squirrel saving nuts for winter.
So here are some realistic tips you can use to make it through Thanksgiving without turning into a turkey (nor depriving yourself, either).

1. Eat how you would on any other day

Have a good breakfast. A good lunch. A normal sized Thanksgiving meal with a bit of everything you love. If you’re the type of person who tries to skip meals or hold yourself back from eating until the festivities start, you might start yourself off at the Thanksgiving meal with a little too much gusto (which you’ll regret, later, when you realise too late that you’ve eaten too much). Remember, it’s just like any other meal in terms of volume (just more exciting!).

2.Don’t bother to eat the stuff that you’re not in love with

One way to prevent overeating is to avoid the foods you’re not a huge fan of (yes, that includes salad). If you fill your plate with salad to lessen the guilt of eating the foods you love, don’t. Give your digestive system a break by not adding more to the plate for the nutritional value factor. It’s a special occasion, eat the foods you love but don’t get every day. Special occasions aren’t the time to see if you’ve developed a liking for green beans when they’ve never made you happy in the past.

3. Try to have a bit of each five flavours

Salty, Sweet, Sour, Bitter, and Pungent. When you balance your plate with flavours, you’re less likely to overeat any one because your taste buds are getting a satisfying variety. Plus, you’re more likely to have a great balance of heavy foods to lighter foods which will give you an enjoyable experience throughout your meal. Think salty turkey with pungent flavoring, sour cranberry, bitter greens, and sweet pumpkin pie — what a fulfilling combination

4. Savor every bite

The idea is not to eat LESS than what would satisfy you. The idea is just to prevent yourself from eating MORE than your body can handle. And a great way to do that (and enjoy your food, too), is to savor each precious bite. Chances are, you’re going to have tons of leftovers to enjoy later, so there’s no need to feel like this is your one shot for pie and yummy goodness.

5. Take a walk after your meal

You’ll probably fall into a food coma slumber after the eating festivities are over. See if you can walk around the block with your family before passing out on the sofa It’ll settle your tummy and you’re less likely to wake up feeling like your belly is still stuffed.
Thanksgiving is a fun time to be with family and to enjoy delicious foods. So don’t worry about your diet – just focus on the flavours while also being easy on your digestive system and you’ll get through Thanksgiving with a breeze!

Katheryn Gronauer, the Lifestyle Nutritionist™, helps driven gals reconnect with the way their bodies are meant to eat. She’s a certified integrative health coach with a background in food energetics and East/West lifestyle ideologies. Katheryn is the creator of FOODBOSS™, the unconventional program that puts you in the driver’s seat of your eating lifestyle. She’s also a contributing writer for The Huffington Post, Mindbodygreen, Elite Daily, and Elephant Journal. Make sure you check out her free Food Energetics training – it’ll blow your mind!